Effects of children's misbehaviors on parents' disciplinary methods were studied. A specific purpose was to explore antecedents of physical punishment and love withdrawal, as well as antecedents of reasoned discipline practices. Twenty-four mothers of one-to-two-year-old children were trained to report incidents of children's interactions, from which sequences of misbehaviors, discipline, and subsequent compliance or noncompliance were extracted. Misbehaviors were categorized as harm to persons, harm to property, and "lapses" in self-control. Forms of discipline were reasoning, teaching, dramatization of wrongdoing, verbal prohibitions, physical punishment, physical restraint, and love withdrawal. Half of mothers' initial disciplines were verbal prohibitions. Explanations and physical restrains were also common control methods. Following children's noncompliance to discipline, mothers used a wider range of discipline practices. Transgressions against persons were likely to be associated with psychologically oriented reasoned forms of discipline. Destruction of property and lapses in self-control were likely to be associated with parental techniques that incorporated overt displays of power and exertion of strong controls.